Vatican City, Aug 16, 2020 / 05:30 am
Pope Francis offered a prayer for Belarus Sunday asking for respect for justice and dialogue following a week of violent clashes over the disputed presidential election.
"I carefully follow the post-electoral situation in this country and appeal for dialogue, the rejection of violence and respect for justice and law. I entrust all Belarusians to the protection of Our Lady, Queen of Peace," Pope Francis said in his Angelus address Aug. 16.
Protests erupted in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, on Aug. 9 after the government's electoral officials announced a landslide victory for Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the country since 1994.
The European Union's foreign minister Josep Borrell has said that the elections in Belarus were "neither free nor fair" and condemned the government's repression and arrests of protesters.